this post was submitted on 16 Jun 2024
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Steam

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[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago (2 children)

It is funny that people think Valve would sell out instead of becoming the big evil.

As Valve continues developing an OS agnostic platform, they start building into various tools that require a Steam account to play games in order to defend their app store. Maybe they buy Unity and make it a Steam exclusive, maybe they make their own engine that can be played on Windows or Linux.

Integrate Chromecast technology to make a console like multimedia device to compete against XBox and PlayStation. Then, start selling video and integrating streaming access.

Push the Steam Store to become bigger. Sure, you aren't forced to use the Steam Store on most Valve developed hardware, but it is default.

Then, like Google did with Android, pull the tech stack from the open source tools to become wholely integrated with Steam Services.

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[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago (2 children)

I already have enough games to last a lifetime, stored to my storage

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[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago

I think your fear is justified. Gaben needs a personal trainer

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago (4 children)

GOG.
We need to support GOG and it's model as much as possible.

<3

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago (5 children)

If only they would support Linux more.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Lutris > gog as source > set proton as a runner (or wine, or whatever else if specific games require it, like FFXIV)

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[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago

Well, at least we’ve got global climate change and multiple other threats to the survival of humanity, we won’t have to worry for long.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago

Well thankfully Gabe has lost a ton of weight in recent years. Man is looking absolutely svelte these days. Here's hoping he has many more years of good health.

I'm also guessing he'll hand pick a successor that will carry on his views, instead of dying in office and having some kind of CEO election free-for-all.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I think Gabe has been getting healthy lately. Last picture I saw of him he was looking like he lost a lot of weight. Maybe repost this in 10 years and then we can panic.

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[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I don't know why Gabe Newell would die before 75

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[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Piracy is a service problem. They'll reap what they sow if they change course. I'm not afraid to hoist my sails again when I need to. ;)

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago (4 children)

PC gaming is not here to stay. One day, someone, will finally do a cloud /saas streaming solution which works, which solves the latency and fidelity issues and which will be accepted and trusted by the masses.

Hopefully that will be a Valve solution. Not Nvidia, MS, Google or Sony.

From that moment on the client will not matter anymore and you will just stream it to your device and from there cast it to your big screen.

Hopefully I'm full of shit and this will never happen. But I'm afraid I'm not.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago

Yes, I also believe in invisible pink unicorns. You'll get to see one soon, I promise.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago

Fiber internet was invented around the 80s. I only got fiber installed at my house a month ago. Most homes around here still have expensive low bandwidth cable. For cloud gaming to actually work you would need to upgrade the world's internet infrastructure to an incredible degree. This article highlights the issue (in the US, one of the most developed countries)

https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/streaming-video-barriers-broadband-inequities-and-the-digital-divide/

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago

Speed of light says no

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Unless you change physics the latency will never be solved.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Latency is a non issue if you make the service even remotely decentralised. One server per EU country is enough to push the latency below 50ms, which is more than playable, even for shooters and MOBAs.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago

Still to much of you want to be decently competitive in a shooter.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Simply build a gaming server farm in the middle of every small town in the world

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[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago (1 children)

A billionaire who is 61 is very likely to outlive 75, even if they're fat.

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[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago (2 children)

What will happen to the Steam Deck? Will they discontinue it and support for existing units, or replace the OS with Windows (causing degraded performance and exposing their users to Microsoft adtech enshittification)? The Steam Deck is a star product of theirs, which hopefully will count for something.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago (2 children)

It’s important to remember though that the steam deck itself is not the end goal for them. It’s part of building a larger Linux gaming ecosystem and solidifying their hard-core followers. Last I checked it it only sold 2 or 3 million. That’s impressive, but if you’re thinking about it as a competitor to say, the switch (which you see it compared to all the time) it’s clearly not a massive money maker. So it’s not hard to imagine a short term thinking leadership ending it.

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[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago
[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago (3 children)

I think there are important considerations to keep in mind.

First and foremost, Valve is not a public company. I don't know if it has investors, but it is not driven by profits like many typical public companies are. These companies tend to allow themselves longer investments without any clear visibility of immediate profits. They also do things for the greater good, even though it does not bring profits.

But also, I think the whole of valve is a set of gamers and people who genuinely care about the gaming business and making great products. I think they all share Gabe's values and goals. It's not like Gabe is the only one holding everything together or else it would instantly crash into the profit driven company it could be.

Both of these scenarios keep me hopeful that this is a longer lasting stance and doesn't hinge on just one person. It's not a proof it will never be a typical profit company but these are barriers which are not typically present. Let's hope for the best and keep rewarding them for their contributions to gaming, open source and for their good actions.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago

It would be so awesome if they went employee owned. I get the impression the employees are people who are passionate about video games. I feel that they would choose leadership that is both good for the community and good for the long-term health of the company.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago

More important than who works there is who inherits Gabe's ownership of the company. A new owner can completely change a company and drive out or fire anyone who doesn't go along with the new direction. Look at what happened with twitter when Musk took over. Or his inheritors could take Valve public and introduce all the issues with that.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago (5 children)

I don’t understand where this myth came from that if a company is a public that they aren’t potentially ruthlessly profit driven.

Valve is not special. Gabe is to a certain degree (though I would also caution people from deifying anybody period). We can never take for granted that the valve and steam experience we largely enjoy today will be there tomorrow. That’s a simple fact.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago (2 children)

In the US, there are multiple Supreme Court precedent cases that force profit-maximizing. Shareholders can sue the CEO and board to maximize profit seeking.

So yes, increasing shareholder value is enshrined in US law. Only private corporations can get around that rule. Also, a corporation cannot be forced to break the law to maximize profits, that's just something most CEO's are willing to do for fun.

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[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago

It’s not that they can’t still be profit driven, it’s that they can’t be sued by investors for not being ruthlessly profit driven. Private just means that they have the choice at all

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[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago (5 children)

Proton is open source. Anyone can pull it together and integrate it. Gog have been doing DRM free games for a while, they'll be quite keen to fill this niche. Epic probably won't care. If none do, someone will want to.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (2 children)

What are you smoking? GOG Galaxy doesn’t even have a Linux client. In fact it has been one of the most requested features for years and nothing has happened.

Edit: it’s also the reason I stopped buying from them when I got my Steam Deck.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago

So you're saying if Valve enshittified, they wouldn't fork and try to capitilise on that market?

They probably do not see the point right now as Valve have it sewn up. Lemmy grew when Reddit scored own goals. When Valve do, opportunities are there and would be taken.

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[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Valve is a private company whereas GOG belongs to CDProject - a publicly traded company. GOG might want to fill the void but they're more likely to do dumb, shortsighted decisions in contrast to Valve.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago

Maybe, but DRM free content isn't exactly shareholder value...

It's better shepherded than Epic. They probably don't fill the space because Steam do it better, but you invest more if the return is higher.

The case I'm referring to is in the future if Steam badly enshittified.

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